Horror/Thriller as it is meant to be!

Rating: Null/10 (12 November 2002)

Too often we see horror movies that rely on special effects, big stars, predictable teens, cheesy music and unoriginal storylines. 28 Days later does not suffer from this affliction. Instead it takes the audience through a whirlwind of suspence, blood, paranoia and pure unadulterated horror. We start with a virus called RAGE that has been engineered and deliberately administered to chimps. Unfortunately, animal rights activists release one of the chimps. Cut to 28 Days Later...
We are taken through the story through the eyes of Jim, a courier rider who was in a coma when something happened. He awakes to find London deserted (an eerie homage to John Wyndham) and wondering what has happened. After being attacked, he is rescued by Mark and Selena who tell him the truth. England has been overrun by "the infected". From there it turns into a battle of survival, taking Jim and his new found friends (including Frank and Hannah, a father and daughter) up to Manchester where they believe salvation lies in the form of a military unit led by Major Henry West (play superbly by Christopher Eccleston). However, all is not as it seems.
What makes 28 Days Later so phenominal is the fact that it plays on our fears and uses minimal special effects, instead going for a George Romero style of real actors in minimal make up. Deserted London is spooky in it's sparcity and the actors more than meet the challenge, especially Brendon Gleeson in his best role since Hamish in Braveheart. He is your everyman and someone that we all know.
11 out of 10 for the first real original horror movie since the original 1968 Return of the Living Dead.